“Yes.”
It was said in that same flat tone, and yet there was an odd hostility coming from him that made no sense. But then, nothing about this reaper really made any sense. Not him, not his actions, and not his reactions.
And certainly not mine.
He rose and offered me a hand up. I hesitated briefly, then accepted it, letting him pull me easily to my feet. Pain stabbed into my brain, and I had to close my eyes and breathe deeply for several seconds before the sensation eased.
“Yes,” Azriel said, pulling his fingers from mine. “It is obvious that you are totally okay.”
“Sarcasm does not become you, reaper.”
“And stupidity does become you.”
He moved past me. I took another deep breath, then opened my eyes and carefully turned around. Selwin was still on the ground. Her clothes—like mine—were shredded, hanging in fibrous bits from her body, but she obviously didn’t know or care. She was staring at her fingerless hands, her wailing getting louder and louder.
I’d done that. I’d maimed her.
And the knowledge that she’d intended to do far worse to me didn’t ease the guilt.
Azriel squatted down beside her. Valdis’s blade flickered with blue fire, as if in expectation. Azriel raised an arm and lightly touched two fingers to Selwin’s forehead. Valdis’s fire swirled down his arm and jumped from his fingers to her skin. She stilled instantly, her screams dying on her lips and her expression curiously blank.
“Can you re-form her fingers?” I asked softly as the blue fire spread from Selwin’s forehead, down her face, to her body.
He didn’t even glance at me, but I could feel the annoyance rolling off him as clearly as I could feel the watchful energy still haunting the air. “I do not know. I will meet you at the Brindle.”
And with that, he and Selwin disappeared.
For several moments I simply stood there, staring at the spot where they’d been, irritated not only by the fact he’d disappeared but by his refusal to even look at me. And I honestly had no idea why he was so annoyed. I mean, Azriel wasn’t a friend and he wasn’t even here by choice, so why would he care if I pushed myself to my limits or not? Unless, of course, he merely wanted me in a fit state to find the damn keys.
I shook my head and walked across to my bike. Even that short distance had exhaustion trembling through my limbs. There was no way on earth I was going to have the strength to become Aedh and journey all the way back to Melbourne. It would kill me. Which left me with little other choice than to do as he suggested. And that was even more annoying. I retrieved my phone and said, “Madeline Hunter.”
The voice-recognition software swung into action, and the screen put on its psychedelic show as the number was located and dialed.
“Risa,” she said, as her cool features appeared on the vid-screen. “It appears your reaper was right. Catherine Alston staked herself this afternoon. Good news from you will be the icing on this day’s cake.”
Although her voice was light, there was something in her expression that suggested I wouldn’t have wanted to be the bearer of bad tidings. “I found Selwin.”
“Where?”
“The where doesn’t matter. I offered her a deal.”
Darkness flared deep in her green eyes. Darkness and anger. “You had no right—”
“If the Melbourne council wants to be free of the Maniae curse,” I cut in, “then they will agree to the deal. Selwin is the only one who can stop the creature, and she has to do it willingly.”
Hunter’s expression remained stony, and yet I still saw death in her eyes. “What did you offer her?”
“This all began because Whitfield was killed and his fledglings sentenced to death. Selwin underwent the blood ceremony with him, but has not yet turned.”
“Ah,” Hunter said softly. “Now it all makes sense.”
“She only wants to live. If you offer her another master, she might call off the curse.”
“I cannot imagine the councilors will want to spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders, so I cannot see that they have any other option.” She paused, and once again something dark and vicious flared deep in her eyes. Ice curled through my veins. Though I’d never had any doubt that Hunter wasn’t someone you’d want to be on the wrong side of, that brief but stark glimpse of her true self was a more-than-ample reminder. Especially when she added—in a low, chillingly cold tone—“Though really, all they’d want to do is drain the bitch of blood and watch her die in brutal ecstasy.”
There wasn’t a whole lot I could say to that, so I simply said, “I’ll let the Brindle know that the council will agree to the deal.”
A cold smile touched her lips. “And the Brindle is the one place she is safe from us. Does that mean you do not trust the council, little Risa? Or just me?”